Stephen,

SNIP
>
>So would you be in favor of a license fee for all of our appliactions? Maybe 25 a seat?
>
>__Stephen

No! Never!

Would the same apply to C/C++??? I wonder if there are more C/C++ developers than there are of us?

There's something ELSE afoot here at MS vis-a-vis VFP, though I have no idea what it is. JimB says that the VFP team "is fighting for its life" at MS right now. He sure would know far better than me, so I'm assuming that it's true. But I really would like to know WHY???

Some speculate that it is strictly the profit motive - that MS, like any other business, looks at the bottom line and acts accordingly. While I don't doubt that it is a factor, it sure seems like there's more to things on the VFP issue. And given that there is evidence (at least in my eyes) that for the first time in several years the VFP user population is actually *GROWING*, that is another factor that needs consideration. Otherwise MS would never introduce a new product because it would be a money loser (at the start of its life cycle).

My best guess is that on the day that MS 'kills' VFP they will, at a minimum, have to keep supporting it for a few years (probably a minimum of 5) and possibly even provide a legitimate migration path to one of their other products (can anyone spell VB?). That has a cost too and one that is highly unproductive and that gets worse all the time.

By the way, even if the VFP team *is* fighting for its life is no reason to cower in fear and leave this distasteful looking situation alone. Criticism of MS and/or VFP should continue as strongly as ever.

Cheers,

Jim N